Methods and systems for assisting radio frequency selection

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for monitoring aircraft to mitigate potential loss of communication scenarios. One exemplary method involves monitoring a plurality of communications channels using an onboard communications system, maintaining associations between respective communications channel assignments and respective operational contexts based on the plurality of clearance communications, and in response to detecting a change in an operational context of the aircraft, providing indication of a recommended communications channel based on an association between the recommended communications channel and one of the plurality of different operational contexts corresponding to a current operational context of the aircraft.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter described herein relates generally to vehiclesystems, and more particularly, embodiments of the subject matter relateto avionics systems and methods for mitigating potential communicationsissues caused by incorrect radio frequency settings.

BACKGROUND

Air traffic control typically involves voice communications between airtraffic control and a pilot or crewmember onboard the various aircraftswithin a controlled airspace. For example, an air traffic controller(ATC) may communicate an instruction or a request for pilot action by aparticular aircraft using a call sign assigned to that aircraft, with apilot or crewmember onboard that aircraft acknowledging the request(e.g., by reading back the received information) in a separatecommunication that also includes the call sign. As a result, the ATC candetermine that the correct aircraft has acknowledged the request, thatthe request was correctly understood, what the pilot intends to do, etc.

Unfortunately, there are numerous factors that can cause a failure tohear or reply to a clearance communication, or otherwise result in amisinterpretation of a clearance communication, such as, for example,the volume of traffic in the airspace, similarities between call signsof different aircrafts in the airspace, congestion or interference onthe communications channel being utilized, and/or human fallibilities(e.g., inexperience, hearing difficulties, memory lapse, languagebarriers, distractions, fatigue, etc.). As a result, an incompleteand/or incorrect clearance communication could be acknowledged or actedon by a pilot. One problematic occurrence is a loss of communicationsscenario, where one aircraft is unable to communicate with a controller,often due to inadvertent mismanagement of communications equipment by apilot or other aircraft operator. For example, a pilot may mishear aradio frequency assignment, make an error when inputting or selecting aradio frequency, incorrectly anticipate a radio frequency assignment, orsimply fail to enable or activate the appropriate communications channelor equipment. As a result, a pilot could be unaware of a potentiallyprolonged loss of communication with a controller, which could result inan inability to receive clearances, an inability to communicateimportant information to the controller, potential militaryinterception, or otherwise increase the subsequent pilot workload (e.g.,attempting to restore communications once the loss of communicationscenario is recognized). Accordingly, it is desirable to provideaircraft systems and methods for mitigating potential loss ofcommunications scenarios. Other desirable features and characteristicsof the methods and systems will become apparent from the subsequentdetailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings and the preceding background.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Aircraft systems and related operating methods are provided. In oneembodiment, a method of monitoring an aircraft involves monitoring aplurality of communications channels for a plurality of clearancecommunications using a communications system onboard the aircraft,maintaining, in a data storage element onboard the aircraft,associations between respective communications channels and respectiveoperational contexts of a plurality of different operational contextsbased on the plurality of clearance communications, and in response todetecting a change in an operational context of the aircraft, providingindication of a recommended communications channel based on anassociation between the recommended communications channel and one ofthe plurality of different operational contexts corresponding to acurrent operational context of the aircraft.

In another embodiment, a method comprises concurrently monitoring aplurality of communications channels for a plurality of communicationschannel assignment communications using a communications system onboarda vehicle, and for each respective communications channel assignmentcommunication of the plurality of communications channel assignmentcommunications, extracting an assigned communications channel from therespective communications channel assignment communication, obtaining acontemporaneous operational context associated with an intendedrecipient of the respective communications channel assignmentcommunication, and maintaining, in a data storage element onboard thevehicle, an association between the assigned communications channel andthe contemporaneous operational context. The method continues bymonitoring a current operational context of the vehicle using one ormore onboard systems and in response to detecting the currentoperational context corresponds to the respective contemporaneousoperational context for a respective communications channel assignmentcommunication of the plurality of communications channel assignmentcommunications, automatically recommending, via an output device onboardthe vehicle, the assigned communications channel extracted from therespective communications channel assignment communication andassociated with the respective contemporaneous operational context.

In another embodiment, an aircraft system is provided. The aircraftsystem includes a communications system onboard an aircraft to obtain aplurality of channel assignment communications for a plurality ofdifferent aircraft, a data storage element maintaining associationsbetween a respective assigned communications channel and a respectiveaircraft operational context for each of the plurality of channelassignment communications, monitoring system onboard the aircraft toprovide output indicative of a current operational context of theaircraft, an output interface onboard the aircraft, and a processingsystem coupled to the data storage element, the monitoring system, andthe output interface to monitor the plurality of channel assignmentcommunications, create the associations in the data storage element, andautomatically provide indication of a first assigned communicationschannel as a recommended communications channel when the currentoperational context corresponds to the respective aircraft operationalcontext associated with the first assigned communications channel.

Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the subjectmatter described herein will become apparent from the subsequentdetailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings and the preceding background.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe following figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an aircraft system in accordancewith one or more exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a communications channelrecommendation system suitable for use with the aircraft system of FIG.1 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a communications channel mappingprocess suitable for implementation by the aircraft system of FIG. 1 orthe communications channel recommendation system of FIG. 2 in accordancewith one or more exemplary embodiments; and

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a communications channelrecommendation process suitable for implementation by the aircraftsystem of FIG. 1 or the communications channel recommendation system ofFIG. 2 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments; and

FIGS. 5-7 depict exemplary graphical user interface (GUI) displayssuitable for presentation in the aircraft system of FIG. 1 or thecommunications channel recommendation system of FIG. 2 in connectionwith the communications channel recommendation process of FIG. 4 inaccordance with one or more exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and isnot intended to limit the subject matter of the application and usesthereof. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theorypresented in the preceding background, brief summary, or the followingdetailed description.

Embodiments of the subject matter described herein relate to systems andmethods for mitigating potential configuration or selection errorsassociated with a communications system onboard a vehicle. For purposesof explanation, the subject matter may be primarily described herein inthe context of aircraft operating in a controlled airspace; however, thesubject matter described herein is not necessarily limited to aircraftor avionic environments, and in alternative embodiments, may beimplemented in an equivalent manner for ground operations, marineoperations, or otherwise in the context of other types of vehicles andtravel spaces.

As described in greater detail below primarily in the context of FIGS.2-7, in exemplary embodiments, clearance communications associated withdifferent aircraft concurrently operating in a commonly controlledairspace (or alternatively airspaces that are not commonly controlledbut adjacent or otherwise within a threshold distance of one another)are continually monitored to identify clearance communications thatinclude instructions pertaining to communications system settings orconfigurations, such as, for example, radio frequency assignments fromair traffic control (ATC). For each identified instruction, theoperational context associated with the aircraft that is the intendedrecipient of the instruction is identified or otherwise determined andstored or maintained in association with the instructed radio frequencyor other communications system setting to create a mapping between therecipient aircraft's operational context at the time of the instructionand the instructed radio frequency or setting.

Thereafter, the operational context of a particular aircraft iscontinually monitored and compared to the mapping between previouscommunications system instructions and corresponding aircraftoperational contexts to detect or otherwise identify when the ownshipoperational context for that particular aircraft matches a previousoperational context associated with one or more other aircraft, forexample, in response to a change in the aircraft's current flight phase,geographic location, physical configuration, and/or the like. Based onthe relationship between the ownship operational context and one or moreprevious operational contexts for other aircraft, a recommended radiofrequency or communications system setting for the ownship aircraft isdetermined based on a previously instructed radio frequency orcommunications system setting for other aircraft having the same orsubstantially similar operational context in the past. The recommendedradio frequency or communications system setting may then be compared tothe existing radio frequency or communications system settings onboardthe aircraft to determine whether a discrepancy exists, and if so, anotification is generated or otherwise provided that informs the pilotof the recommended radio frequency or communications system setting thatwas mapped to the current ownship operational context based on previousradio frequency assignments or other ATC instructions for otheraircraft. Thus, a pilot, co-pilot, or other aircraft operator may beapprised of the recommended radio frequency or communications systemsetting when one of the onboard communications systems is not currentlyconfigured in a manner consistent with previous aircraft operating inthe same controlled area or airspace. For example, if a selected orinput radio frequency does not match those assigned to previousaircraft(s) having the same or similar operational context due to apilot mishearing his or her radio frequency assignment, erroneouslyentering the radio frequency assignment, incorrectly anticipating orguessing the radio frequency assignment, or otherwise inadvertently andincorrectly configuring an onboard communications system, the pilot maybe expeditiously notified of the potential error, thereby reducing thelikelihood of a prolonged loss of communications.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a system 100 which may beutilized with a vehicle, such as an aircraft 120. In an exemplaryembodiment, the system 100 includes, without limitation, a displaydevice 102, one or more user input devices 104, a processing system 106,a display system 108, a communications system 110, a navigation system112, a flight management system (FMS) 114, one or more avionics systems116, and a data storage element 118 suitably configured to supportoperation of the system 100, as described in greater detail below.

In exemplary embodiments, the display device 102 is realized as anelectronic display capable of graphically displaying flight informationor other data associated with operation of the aircraft 120 undercontrol of the display system 108 and/or processing system 106. In thisregard, the display device 102 is coupled to the display system 108 andthe processing system 106, wherein the processing system 106 and thedisplay system 108 are cooperatively configured to display, render, orotherwise convey one or more graphical representations or imagesassociated with operation of the aircraft 120 on the display device 102.The user input device 104 is coupled to the processing system 106, andthe user input device 104 and the processing system 106 arecooperatively configured to allow a user (e.g., a pilot, co-pilot, orcrew member) to interact with the display device 102 and/or otherelements of the system 100, as described in greater detail below.Depending on the embodiment, the user input device(s) 104 may berealized as a keypad, touchpad, keyboard, mouse, touch panel (ortouchscreen), joystick, knob, line select key or another suitable deviceadapted to receive input from a user. In some embodiments, the userinput device 104 includes or is realized as an audio input device, suchas a microphone, audio transducer, audio sensor, or the like, that isadapted to allow a user to provide audio input to the system 100 in a“hands free” manner without requiring the user to move his or her hands,eyes and/or head to interact with the system 100.

The processing system 106 generally represents the hardware, software,and/or firmware components configured to facilitate communicationsand/or interaction between the elements of the system 100 and performadditional tasks and/or functions to support operation of the system100, as described in greater detail below. Depending on the embodiment,the processing system 106 may be implemented or realized with a generalpurpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signalprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit, a fieldprogrammable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, processing core, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof, designed to perform thefunctions described herein. The processing system 106 may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a plurality ofprocessing cores, a combination of a digital signal processor and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, orany other such configuration. In practice, the processing system 106includes processing logic that may be configured to carry out thefunctions, techniques, and processing tasks associated with theoperation of the system 100, as described in greater detail below.Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly inhardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by the processingsystem 106, or in any practical combination thereof. For example, in oneor more embodiments, the processing system 106 includes or otherwiseaccesses a data storage element (or memory), which may be realized asany sort of non-transitory short or long term storage media capable ofstoring programming instructions for execution by the processing system106. The code or other computer-executable programming instructions,when read and executed by the processing system 106, cause theprocessing system 106 to support or otherwise perform certain tasks,operations, functions, and/or processes described herein.

The display system 108 generally represents the hardware, software,and/or firmware components configured to control the display and/orrendering of one or more navigational maps and/or other displayspertaining to operation of the aircraft 120 and/or onboard systems 110,112, 114, 116 on the display device 102. In this regard, the displaysystem 108 may access or include one or more databases suitablyconfigured to support operations of the display system 108, such as, forexample, a terrain database, an obstacle database, a navigationaldatabase, a geopolitical database, a terminal airspace database, aspecial use airspace database, or other information for rendering and/ordisplaying navigational maps and/or other content on the display device102.

In exemplary embodiments, the aircraft system 100 includes a datastorage element 118, which contains aircraft procedure information (orinstrument procedure information) for a plurality of airports andmaintains association between the aircraft procedure information and thecorresponding airports. Depending on the embodiment, the data storageelement 118 may be physically realized using RAM memory, ROM memory,flash memory, registers, a hard disk, or another suitable data storagemedium known in the art or any suitable combination thereof.

As used herein, aircraft procedure information should be understood as aset of operating parameters, constraints, or instructions associatedwith a particular aircraft action (e.g., approach, departure, arrival,climbing, and the like) that may be undertaken by the aircraft 120 at orin the vicinity of a particular airport. As used herein, an airportshould be understood as referring to a location suitable for landing (orarrival) and/or takeoff (or departure) of an aircraft, such as, forexample, airports, runways, landing strips, and other suitable landingand/or departure locations, and an aircraft action should be understoodas referring to an approach (or landing), an arrival, a departure (ortakeoff), an ascent, taxiing, or another aircraft action havingassociated aircraft procedure information. Each airport may have one ormore predefined aircraft procedures associated therewith, wherein theaircraft procedure information for each aircraft procedure at eachrespective airport may be maintained by the data storage element 118.The aircraft procedure information may be provided by or otherwiseobtained from a governmental or regulatory organization, such as, forexample, the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States. In anexemplary embodiment, the aircraft procedure information comprisesinstrument procedure information, such as instrument approachprocedures, standard terminal arrival routes, instrument departureprocedures, standard instrument departure routes, obstacle departureprocedures, or the like, traditionally displayed on a published charts,such as Instrument Approach Procedure (IAP) charts, Standard TerminalArrival (STAR) charts or Terminal Arrival Area (TAA) charts, StandardInstrument Departure (SID) routes, Departure Procedures (DP), terminalprocedures, approach plates, and the like. In exemplary embodiments, thedata storage element 118 maintains associations between prescribedoperating parameters, constraints, and the like and respectivenavigational reference points (e.g., waypoints, positional fixes, radioground stations (VORs, VORTACs, TACANs, and the like), distancemeasuring equipment, non-directional beacons, or the like) defining theaircraft procedure, such as, for example, altitude minima or maxima,minimum and/or maximum speed constraints, RTA constraints, and the like.It should be noted that although the subject matter is described belowin the context of departure procedures and/or climbing procedures forpurposes of explanation, the subject matter is not intended to belimited to use with any particular type of aircraft procedure and may beimplemented for other aircraft procedures (e.g., approach procedures oren route procedures) in an equivalent manner.

Still referring to FIG. 1, in an exemplary embodiment, the processingsystem 106 is coupled to the navigation system 112, which is configuredto provide real-time navigational data and/or information regardingoperation of the aircraft 120. The navigation system 112 may be realizedas a global positioning system (GPS), inertial reference system (IRS),or a radio-based navigation system (e.g., VHF omni-directional radiorange (VOR) or long range aid to navigation (LORAN)), and may includeone or more navigational radios or other sensors suitably configured tosupport operation of the navigation system 112, as will be appreciatedin the art. The navigation system 112 is capable of obtaining and/ordetermining the instantaneous position of the aircraft 120, that is, thecurrent (or instantaneous) location of the aircraft 120 (e.g., thecurrent latitude and longitude) and the current (or instantaneous)altitude or above ground level for the aircraft 120. The navigationsystem 112 is also capable of obtaining or otherwise determining theheading of the aircraft 120 (i.e., the direction the aircraft istraveling in relative to some reference). In the illustrated embodiment,the processing system 106 is also coupled to the communications system110, which is configured to support communications to and/or from theaircraft 120. For example, the communications system 110 may supportcommunications between the aircraft 120 and air traffic control oranother suitable command center or ground location. In this regard, thecommunications system 110 may be realized using a radio communicationsystem and/or another suitable data link system.

In an exemplary embodiment, the processing system 106 is also coupled tothe FMS 114, which is coupled to the navigation system 112, thecommunications system 110, and one or more additional avionics systems116 to support navigation, flight planning, and other aircraft controlfunctions in a conventional manner, as well as to provide real-time dataand/or information regarding the operational status of the aircraft 120to the processing system 106. Although FIG. 1 depicts a single avionicssystem 116, in practice, the system 100 and/or aircraft 120 will likelyinclude numerous avionics systems for obtaining and/or providingreal-time flight-related information that may be displayed on thedisplay device 102 or otherwise provided to a user (e.g., a pilot, aco-pilot, or crew member). For example, practical embodiments of thesystem 100 and/or aircraft 120 will likely include one or more of thefollowing avionics systems suitably configured to support operation ofthe aircraft 120: a weather system, an air traffic management system, aradar system, a traffic avoidance system, an autopilot system, anautothrust system, a flight control system, hydraulics systems,pneumatics systems, environmental systems, electrical systems, enginesystems, trim systems, lighting systems, crew alerting systems,electronic checklist systems, an electronic flight bag and/or anothersuitable avionics system.

It should be understood that FIG. 1 is a simplified representation ofthe system 100 for purposes of explanation and ease of description, andFIG. 1 is not intended to limit the application or scope of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. It should be appreciated thatalthough FIG. 1 shows the display device 102, the user input device 104,and the processing system 106 as being located onboard the aircraft 120(e.g., in the cockpit), in practice, one or more of the display device102, the user input device 104, and/or the processing system 106 may belocated outside the aircraft 120 (e.g., on the ground as part of an airtraffic control center or another command center) and communicativelycoupled to the remaining elements of the system 100 (e.g., via a datalink and/or communications system 110). Similarly, in some embodiments,the data storage element 118 may be located outside the aircraft 120 andcommunicatively coupled to the processing system 106 via a data linkand/or communications system 110. Furthermore, practical embodiments ofthe system 100 and/or aircraft 120 will include numerous other devicesand components for providing additional functions and features, as willbe appreciated in the art. In this regard, it will be appreciated thatalthough FIG. 1 shows a single display device 102, in practice,additional display devices may be present onboard the aircraft 120.Additionally, it should be noted that in other embodiments, featuresand/or functionality of processing system 106 described herein can beimplemented by or otherwise integrated with the features and/orfunctionality provided by the FMS 114. In other words, some embodimentsmay integrate the processing system 106 with the FMS 114. In yet otherembodiments, various aspects of the subject matter described herein maybe implemented by or at an electronic flight bag (EFB) or similarelectronic device that is communicatively coupled to the processingsystem 106 and/or the FMS 114.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communications channelrecommendation system 200 for recommending a communications channel fortuning or selection by a vehicle operator in response to a change inownship operational context. In one or more exemplary embodiments, thechannel recommendation system 200 is implemented or otherwise providedonboard a vehicle, such as aircraft 120; however, in alternativeembodiments, the channel recommendation system 200 may be implementedindependent of any aircraft or vehicle, for example, at a groundlocation such as an air traffic control facility. That said, forpurposes of explanation, the channel recommendation system 200 may beprimarily described herein in the context of an implementation onboardan aircraft. As described in greater detail below, the recommendedcommunications channel is identified or otherwise determined bycorrelating or mapping the current ownship operational context to theprior operational context(s) for other aircraft(s), and then identifyingthe past communications channel assignments for those aircraft(s) havingpreviously had the same or substantially similar operational context.

The illustrated channel recommendation system 200 includes, withoutlimitation, a control module 202, one or more ownship monitoring systems204, one or more communications systems 206, one or more trafficmonitoring systems 208, a data storage element 210 (or memory), and oneor more output user interfaces 212. It should be understood that FIG. 2is a simplified representation of the channel recommendation system 200for purposes of explanation and ease of description, and FIG. 2 is notintended to limit the application or scope of the subject matterdescribed herein in any way.

The control module 202 generally represents the processing system of thechannel recommendation system 200 and may include any sort of hardware,firmware, circuitry and/or logic components or combination thereof thatis coupled to the communications system(s) 206 to receive or otherwiseobtain clearance communications and analyze the clearance communicationsto establish associations with radio frequency channel assignments, asdescribed in greater detail below. Depending on the embodiment, thecontrol module 202 may be implemented or realized with a general purposeprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a statemachine, a content addressable memory, an application specificintegrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitableprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform thefunctions described herein. In one or more embodiments, the controlmodule 202 may be implemented as part of the processing system 106onboard the aircraft 120 of FIG. 1. In exemplary embodiments, thecontrol module 202 may also include or otherwise access a data storageelement or memory (e.g., memory 210), including any sort of RAM, readonly memory (ROM), flash memory, registers, hard disks, removable disks,magnetic or optical mass storage, or any other short or long termstorage media or other non-transitory computer-readable medium, which iscapable of storing programming instructions for execution by the controlmodule 202. The computer-executable programming instructions, when readand executed by the control module 202, cause the control module 202 toperform or otherwise support the tasks, operations, functions, andprocesses described herein.

The ownship monitoring system(s) 204 generally represents the navigationsystem(s), flight management system(s), and/or other onboard avionicssystem(s) coupled to the control module 202 and capable of providinginformation pertaining to the current operational context of theaircraft. In this regard, the current operational context of an aircraftmay be defined by a combination of parameters, such as, for example, thegeographic location of the aircraft (e.g., latitude and longitudecoordinates), the altitude (or above ground level) of the aircraft, theheading of the aircraft, the flight phase of the aircraft, and/or thephysical configuration of the aircraft (e.g., landing gearconfiguration, flap configuration, the current procedure being flown orexecuted, the current or nearest waypoint or navigational referencepoint, and/or the like).

The communications system(s) 206 (e.g., communications system 110)generally represent the onboard avionics system(s) capable of receivingclearance communications from other sources, such as, for example, anair traffic controller, an automated broadcasting system, otheraircraft, and/or the like. Depending on the embodiment, thecommunications system(s) 206 could include one or more of a very highfrequency (VHF) radio communications system, a controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) system, an aeronautical operational control(AOC) communications system, an aircraft communications addressing andreporting system (ACARS), and/or the like. In one or more exemplaryembodiments, the communications system 206 includes at least twocommunications radios, with one radio capable of being utilized as anactive or primary radio while one or more additional radios are utilizedas backup, secondary, or otherwise inactive (or deselected) radios,which may be utilized by a pilot or other vehicle operator to preprogramanticipated radio frequency assignments. In various exemplaryembodiments described herein, those secondary, backup, or otherwiseinactive radios may be utilized to concurrently monitor differentcommunications channels.

The traffic monitoring system(s) 208 generally represent the onboardavionics system(s) capable of receiving information indicative of theoperational context of other aircraft in the vicinity of the ownshipaircraft. For example, traffic monitoring system(s) 208 may include anautomatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system capable ofreceiving information identifying the geographic location, altitude,and/or other real-time information characterizing the currentoperational aircraft of respective aircraft within the vicinity of theownship aircraft.

In the illustrated embodiment, computer-executable programminginstructions executed by the control module 202 cause the control module202 to generate, execute, or otherwise implement a clearancetranscription application 222 capable of analyzing, parsing, orotherwise processing voice, speech, or other audio input received by thecontrol module 202 to convert the received audio into a correspondingtextual representation. In this regard, the clearance transcriptionapplication 222 may implement or otherwise support a speech recognitionengine (or voice recognition engine) or other speech-to-text system.Accordingly, the control module 202 may also include various filters,analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), or the like, and the control module202 or the data storage element 210 may store or otherwise a speechrecognition vocabulary for use by the clearance transcriptionapplication 222 in converting audio inputs into transcribed textualrepresentations.

In the illustrated embodiment, the computer-executable programminginstructions executed by the control module 202 also cause the controlmodule 202 to generate, execute, or otherwise implement a frequencyassignment mapping application 224 that receives the transcribed textualclearance communications from the clearance transcription application222 or receives clearance communications in textual form directly from acommunications system 206 (e.g., a CPDLC system). The frequencyassignment mapping application 224 parses or otherwise analyzes thetextual representation of the received clearance communications toidentify clearance communications including radio frequency channelassignments. In response to identifying radio frequency channelassignment instructions, the frequency assignment mapping application224 identifies or otherwise determines the assigned radio frequencychannel contained within the communication along with an operationalcontext associated with the aircraft that is the intended recipient ofthe respective instruction. In some embodiments, the frequencyassignment mapping application 224 identifies or otherwise determines anidentifier associated with the aircraft that is the intended recipientof the respective instruction by parsing or analyzing the communication(e.g., by identifying a flight identifier, call sign, or otheridentifier within the textual representation of the clearancecommunication), and then utilizes the identifier to obtain operationalcontext information associated with that aircraft at or around the timeof the instruction from the traffic monitoring system(s) 208.Additionally or alternatively, the frequency assignment mappingapplication 224 may parse or otherwise analyze the text of the radiofrequency channel assignment instruction to identify or otherwisedetermine an operational context associated with the instruction fromwithin the communication. For example, for each clearance communicationreceived by the frequency assignment mapping application 224 thatincludes a radio frequency channel assignment, the frequency assignmentmapping application 224 may parse or otherwise analyze the textualcontent of the clearance communication and extract or otherwiseidentify, if present, one or more of an operational subject of theclearance communication (e.g., a runway, a taxiway, a waypoint, aheading, an altitude, a flight level, or the like), an operationalparameter value associated with the operational subject in the clearancecommunication (e.g., the runway identifier, taxiway identifier, waypointidentifier, heading angle, altitude value, or the like), a flight phase,and/or an action associated with the clearance communication (e.g.,landing, takeoff, pushback, hold, or the like).

For each clearance communication received by the frequency assignmentmapping application 224 that includes a radio frequency channelassignment, the frequency assignment mapping application 224 thengenerates corresponding radio frequency channel assignment entries in afrequency mapping table 218 in the memory 210 that maintains anassociation between an assigned radio frequency channel and therespective operational context associated with the respective aircraftbeing assigned that radio frequency contemporaneous to the radiofrequency channel assignment. In this regard, the table 218 maintainsall of the clearance communications received by the control module 202from an onboard communications system 206 that include radio frequencychannel assignments, and for each radio frequency channel assignment,maintains an association between the assigned radio frequency channeland the contemporaneous or current operational context associated withthe respective aircraft being assigned the respective radio frequencychannel.

Still referring to FIG. 2, in the illustrated embodiment,computer-executable programming instructions executed by the controlmodule 202 also cause the control module 202 to generate, execute, orotherwise implement a frequency change detection application 216 thatanalyzes the relationship between the current operational contextinformation associated with the ownship aircraft provided by the ownshipmonitoring system(s) 204 and the prior operational contexts associatedwith prior radio frequency assignments maintained in the frequencymapping table 218 to detect or otherwise identify when the currentoperational context maps to one or more prior radio frequencyassignments. In this regard, as described in greater detail below, whenthe current ownship operational context maps or otherwise corresponds toone or more prior radio frequency assignments having substantially thesame operational context information associated therewith, the frequencychange detection application 226 identifies the assigned radio frequencychannel associated with those mapped prior radio frequency assignmentsas a recommended radio frequency channel for the current ownshipoperational context. When the recommended radio frequency channel is notcurrently tuned or selected by the appropriate onboard communicationsystem 206, the frequency change detection application 226 generates orotherwise provides a user notification via one or more output userinterface devices 212, such as, for example, a display device (e.g.,display device 102), an audio output device, or the like. Additionally,in one or more embodiments, the frequency change detection application226 may transmit or otherwise provide notification to an air trafficcontroller or another device or system external to the channelrecommendation system 200.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in an exemplary embodiment, an aircraft systemis configured to support a communications channel mapping process 300and establish associations or relationships between operational contextsassociated with other aircraft contemporaneous to the other aircraftreceiving communications channel assignments. The various tasksperformed in connection with the illustrated process 300 may beimplemented using hardware, firmware, software executed by processingcircuitry, or any combination thereof. For illustrative purposes, thefollowing description may refer to elements mentioned above inconnection with FIGS. 1-2. In practice, portions of the channel mappingprocess 300 may be performed by different elements of the aircraftsystem 100 or the channel recommendation system 200. That said,exemplary embodiments are described herein in the context of the channelmapping process 300 being primarily performed by the control module 202,which may be implemented as part of the processing system 106 and/or FMS114 onboard the aircraft 120. It should be appreciated that the channelmapping process 300 may include any number of additional or alternativetasks, the tasks need not be performed in the illustrated order and/orthe tasks may be performed concurrently, and/or the channel mappingprocess 300 may be incorporated into a more comprehensive procedure orprocess having additional functionality not described in detail herein.Moreover, one or more of the tasks shown and described in the context ofFIG. 3 could be omitted from a practical embodiment of the channelmapping process 300 as long as the intended overall functionalityremains intact.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the channel mapping process 300 isinitiated when an aircraft 120 enters or otherwise begins operating in acontrolled airspace or transfers from one airspace to another airspace.In this regard, in one or more embodiments, prior to initializing thechannel mapping process 300, the control module 202 may clear orotherwise reset the frequency mapping table 218 for the currentoperation in the controlled airspace.

In the illustrated embodiment, the channel mapping process 300 begins byidentifying or otherwise determining relevant communications channelsfor monitoring for clearance communications based on the currentgeographic location of the ownship aircraft (task 302) and theoperational context of the ownship aircraft. For example, based on thecurrent geographic location of the ownship aircraft, the control module202 and/or the frequency assignment mapping application 224 maydetermine what airspace the aircraft is currently operating within.Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the current headingfor the aircraft may be utilized in conjunction with the currentgeographic location to identify what airspace(s) the aircraft is likelyto operate in. Thus, depending on the embodiment, the channel mappingprocess 300 may monitor communications channels associated with anairspace the ownship aircraft is currently operating within and/or anadjacent airspace that the ownship aircraft is likely to enter.

Once the control module 202 and/or the frequency assignment mappingapplication 224 identifies the relevant airspace(s) to the currentoperation of the aircraft, the control module 202 and/or the frequencyassignment mapping application 224 may utilize stored procedureinformation associated with the identified airspace(s) to identify thedifferent radio frequency channels associated with those airspace(s).For example, when the aircraft is within an airspace associated with aparticular airport, the control module 202 and/or the frequencyassignment mapping application 224 may locate the procedure informationassociated with that airport in memory 118, 210, and then identify thevarious communications frequencies associated with that airport providedby that airport's procedure information, such as, for example, theclearance delivery radio frequency channel, the ground control radiofrequency channel, the tower radio frequency channel, the approachcontrol radio frequency channel, the departure control radio frequencychannel, and/or other air traffic control radio frequency channels.

In some embodiments, after obtaining a list of radio frequency channelsassociated with the airspace(s) relevant to the current operation of theaircraft, the control module 202 and/or the frequency assignment mappingapplication 224 may further filter the list of radio frequency channelsbased on the current operational context of the aircraft to remove orotherwise exclude radio frequency channels unlikely to be relevant tofuture operation of the aircraft. For example, if the aircraft is at aninitial stage of the flight plan or about to depart, anyapproach-related communications channels may be filtered or otherwiseexcluded based on the fact that the aircraft is unlikely to conduct anapproach to the departure airport in its flight plan. In this regard,the control module 202 and/or the frequency assignment mappingapplication 224 may limit the list of radio frequency channels to bemonitored to those that are likely to pertain to the current operationalcontext of the aircraft or the probable future operational contexts forthe aircraft. For example, the control module 202 and/or the frequencyassignment mapping application 224 onboard an aircraft waiting to begintaxiing from a gate may identify radio frequency channels related toground control and departure control as the relevant frequencies formonitoring based on the likelihood that the aircraft is about to taxi enroute to departure, while conversely, for an aircraft en route to theairport, approach control and ground control frequencies may beidentified as the relevant frequencies for monitoring based on thelikelihood that the aircraft is about to approach or land and then taxito a gate or other destination on the ground.

Referring again to FIG. 3, after identifying the relevant communicationschannels for monitoring, the channel mapping process 300 continues byconcurrently monitoring different communications channels forcommunications that include communications channel instructions orassignments for other aircraft (task 304). In exemplary embodiments, theradio frequency channel that is currently tuned or selected as active atthe onboard communications system(s) 206 is monitored. Additionally, inexemplary embodiments, one or more of the radio frequency channelsidentified as being relevant to the current or anticipated operationalcontext of the aircraft are also monitored concurrently using anyavailable backup radios or standby frequencies supported by thecommunications system(s) 206. In this regard, the clearancetranscription application 222 may be concurrently receiving clearancecommunications from different radio frequency channels associated withthe airspace the aircraft is operating in and/or nearby airspaces theaircraft is likely to operate in (e.g., based on the current heading,the route defined by the flight plan, and/or the like). For example,some embodiments of the system 200 may support software defined radiosat the control module 202 or the communications system 206 that enablesthe clearance transcription application 222 to concurrently monitor eachof the radio frequency channels identified as being relevant formonitoring in the background while another active frequency is currentlybeing monitored or listened to by the pilot.

The channel mapping process 300 continues by concurrently monitoringdifferent communications channels for clearance communications includinga radio frequency instruction or assignment (task 306). In response toidentifying a clearance communication including a radio frequencyassignment, the channel mapping process 300 extracts or otherwiseidentifies the assigned radio frequency from the clearance communicationalong with other operational context parameters associated with theradio frequency assignment (task 308). In one or more exemplaryembodiments, the frequency mapping application 224 may identify theassigned radio frequency, the aircraft identifier or intended recipientof the assignment, and if present, the flight phase or other operationor action associated with the assignment communication. For example, acommunication on the tower radio frequency channel may instruct aparticular aircraft (using the aircraft's call sign or identifier) tocontact ground control at 125.325 MHz for taxiing, where the frequencymapping application 224 identifies the assigned frequency as 125.325MHz, the intended recipient aircraft's call sign or identifier, and“taxi” as the flight phase associated with the radio frequencyassignment.

In exemplary embodiments, the channel mapping process 300 identifies orotherwise determines the operational context associated with an aircraftreceiving a radio frequency assignment at or around the time of theassignment and then updates a frequency assignment mapping table tomaintain an association between the assigned radio frequency channel andthe aircraft's operational context at or around the time of theassignment (tasks 310, 312). For example, using the intended recipientaircraft's call sign or identifier extracted from the clearancecommunication, the frequency mapping application 224 may obtain thecurrent or most recent broadcast data pertaining to that aircraft fromthe traffic monitoring system 208 that identifies the geographiclocation of the aircraft, the current altitude of the aircraft, andpotentially other parameters pertaining to the current operationalcontext of the aircraft at the time the radio frequency assignment wasprovided to the aircraft. Continuing the above example, the frequencymapping application 224 then updates the frequency mapping table 218 tomaintain an association between the 125.325 MHz being assigned for the“taxi” flight phase at the contemporaneous geographic location,altitude, and/or other operational context parameters for that aircraft.

The communications channel mapping process 300 may repeat continuallywhile the ownship aircraft is operating within a particular airspace tocontinually monitor different radio frequency channels associated withthat airspace (or a neighboring airspace) and dynamically update thefrequency mapping table 218 in response to additional radio frequencyassignments. Thus, the frequency mapping application 224 may continuallybuild up a data set in the frequency mapping table 218 that allows theassignment of different radio frequency channels to be mapped todifferent aircraft operational contexts at the time of assignment,which, in turn, may be indicative of or predictive of an aircraftoperating state where a particular radio frequency channel change shouldoccur.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communications channelrecommendation process 400 that may be implemented by an aircraft systemin conjunction with the communications channel mapping process 300 todetect or otherwise identify a recommended communications channel basedon a correlation between the current ownship operational context andpast operational contexts associated with other aircraft contemporaneousto the other aircraft receiving communications channel assignments. Thevarious tasks performed in connection with the illustrated process 400may be implemented using hardware, firmware, software executed byprocessing circuitry, or any combination thereof. For illustrativepurposes, the following description may refer to elements mentionedabove in connection with FIGS. 1-3. In practice, portions of the channelrecommendation process 400 may be performed by different elements of theaircraft system 100 or the channel recommendation system 200. That said,exemplary embodiments are described herein in the context of the channelrecommendation process 400 being primarily performed by the controlmodule 202 and/or the frequency change detection application 226, whichmay be implemented as part of the processing system 106 and/or FMS 114onboard the aircraft 120. It should be appreciated that the channelrecommendation process 400 may include any number of additional oralternative tasks, the tasks need not be performed in the illustratedorder and/or the tasks may be performed concurrently, and/or the channelrecommendation process 400 may be incorporated into a more comprehensiveprocedure or process having additional functionality not described indetail herein. Moreover, one or more of the tasks shown and described inthe context of FIG. 4 could be omitted from a practical embodiment ofthe channel recommendation process 400 as long as the intended overallfunctionality remains intact.

The channel recommendation process 400 continually monitors the ownshipoperational context and analyzes the ownship operational context withrespect to past aircraft operational contexts mapped to communicationschannel assignments for other aircraft to detect or otherwise identifywhen the current ownship operational context corresponds to one where acommunications channel assignment was previously issued or received byanother aircraft (tasks 402, 404). When the current ownship operationalcontext matches with, corresponds to, or otherwise maps to one or morepast aircraft operational contexts associated with one or more priorcommunications channel assignments, the channel recommendation process400 identifies the assigned communications channel for the mappedcommunications channel assignment(s) as the recommended communicationschannel for the ownship aircraft (task 406). In some embodiments, thecurrent flight phase and/or subsequent flight phases for the ownshipaircraft may be utilized to filter or otherwise reduce the number ofentries from the frequency mapping table 218 that are being monitored oranalyzed for a potential match. For example, if the current ownshipflight phase is approach and the subsequent flight phase(s) may beidentified or otherwise determined to be landing and/or taxiing, which,in turn may be utilized by the frequency change detection application226 to identify radio frequency assignment entries pertaining to theground controller radio frequency or those subsequent flight phase(s)for monitoring while excluding from consideration other radio frequencyassignment entries that are unlikely to be relevant based on the currentand/or anticipated subsequent flight phase(s) of the ownship aircraft.Additionally, it should be noted that in some embodiments, the currentownship operational context may be matched or mapped to a past aircraftoperational context associated with a prior communications channelassignment probabilistically without requiring a perfect match. Forexample, if more than a threshold number of fields or parameters of theoperational contexts match, or if one or more fields or parameters ofthe current ownship operational context is within a threshold amount ofthe past aircraft operational context, the current ownship operationalcontext may be matched or mapped to the past aircraft operationalcontext without requiring an identical match.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the control module 202 and/or thefrequency change detection application 226 may continually obtain, fromone or more onboard systems 204, information indicative of the currentgeographic location of the aircraft, the current altitude of theaircraft, the current flight phase of the aircraft, and/or otherinformation indicative of the current operational context of the ownshipaircraft. The frequency change detection application 226 may then searchor query the frequency mapping table 218 for any past radio frequencyassignment entries having associated operational context parametervalues that match one or more of the current operational contextparameters for the ownship aircraft. In the absence of any matchingentries in the frequency mapping table 218, the frequency changedetection application 226 may utilize the geographic location, altitude,heading, and/or other operation context parameters associated withentries the frequency mapping table 218 to identify any past radiofrequency assignments associated with locations or positions that arewithin a threshold distance of the current ownship location or position.When the current ownship operational context parameter values match orare otherwise substantially similar to (e.g., within a thresholddistance of) those stored in association with a previous radio frequencyassignment entry, the frequency change detection application 226 maydetermine that a radio frequency channel change is probable oranticipated with respect to the ownship aircraft and identifies theassigned radio frequency associated with that matching entry in thefrequency mapping table 218 as the recommended radio frequency channelfor the ownship aircraft.

For example, the frequency mapping table 218 may indicate that aparticular tower radio frequency channel is assigned for departure whenone or more other aircraft traverse one or more particular geographiclocations. In this regard, the past geographic location(s) associatedwith the tower radio frequency channel assignment may be utilized by thechannel recommendation process 400 as a reference geographic locationfor recommending the previously assigned tower radio frequency channel.When there are multiple instances of the tower radio frequency channelassignment in the mapping table 218 corresponding to different aircrafthaving different geographic locations at the time of the respectiveassignments, the different geographic locations associated with thedifferent aircraft may be averaged or otherwise combined to obtain areference geographic location for recommending the previously assignedtower radio frequency channel. Subsequently, while the aircraft istaxiing for departure, the frequency change detection application 226may continually analyze the onboard systems 204 to detect when the towerradio frequency channel is likely to be relevant to the ownshipaircraft.

The frequency change detection application 226 may determine the currentoperational context for the aircraft is taxiing en route for departurebased on one or more of the output from the FMS indicating the ownshipaircraft is in the taxiing flight phase, the onboard navigation systemindicating the ownship aircraft is on the ground, and/or the status ofthe ownship aircraft with respect to a flight plan maintained by theFMS. The frequency change detection application 226 may identify thepreviously-assigned radio frequency channel for departure(s) as thelikely next radio frequency channel assignment for the ownship aircraftand identify a reference geographic location and potentially otherreference operational context parameters from the frequency mappingtable 218. The frequency change detection application 226 thencontinually monitors the current geographic location of the ownshipaircraft output by the onboard navigation system(s), the current flightphase output by the FMS, and/or potentially other operational contextparameters associated with the ownship aircraft to detect when thecurrent ownship operational context corresponds to the referenceoperational context associated with the departure radio frequencyassignment in real-time. For example, in some embodiments, the frequencychange detection application 226 may detect when the current ownshipflight phase changes to the departure flight phase. In otherembodiments, the frequency change detection application 226 may detectthe departure radio frequency assignment is appropriate for the ownshipaircraft when the current geographic location of the ownship aircraft iswithin a threshold distance of the reference operational contextassociated with the departure radio frequency assignment while the otherownship operational context parameters (e.g., flight phase, currentaltitude, landing gear configuration, and/or the like) also indicatethat the ownship aircraft should likely receive a departure radiofrequency assignment. Thus, when the current ownship operational contextmatches or otherwise maps to the reference operational contextassociated with the previous departure radio frequency assignment(s),the frequency change detection application 226 determines thepreviously-assigned radio frequency channel for departures as therecommended communications channel for the ownship aircraft.

Still referring to FIG. 4, in exemplary embodiments, the channelrecommendation process 400 verifies or otherwise determines whether ornot the recommended communications channel is currently selected orotherwise active onboard the aircraft, and if not, generates orotherwise provides an indication of a recommended communications channelchange based on the current ownship operational context (tasks 408,410). For example, in one or more embodiments, a graphical userinterface (GUI) display corresponding to the current configuration ofthe onboard radios may be dynamically updated to include text or someother graphic that recommends or suggests the recommended radiofrequency channel to the pilot. In some embodiments, a button or similarselectable GUI element may be provided that can be selected or otherwisemanipulated by a user to automatically tune the recommended radiofrequency channel. In embodiments where the recommended communicationschannel is preselected or input to another standby or backup radiochannel, the GUI display may be dynamically updated to include agraphical indication that the pilot should select or otherwise activatethat alternate channel to make the recommended communications channelactive upon the ownship operational context corresponding to anoperational context where the frequency changeover is likely to occurbased on prior radio frequency assignments.

In situations where the recommended communications channel is alreadyselected or active onboard the aircraft, the illustrated channelrecommendation process 400 continues by verifying or otherwiseconfirming that the current configuration of the radio with respect tothe selected communications channel allows the pilot to communicate onthat channel (task 412). For example, the frequency change detectionapplication 226 may verify that the volume associated with the selectedor active radio currently receiving the recommended communicationschannel is not muted or otherwise turned on above some threshold volumelevel to ensure that the pilot is able to hear or receive communicationson the channel now that it is likely to be relevant based on the currentoperational context. Similarly, the frequency change detectionapplication 226 may verify that the pilot's microphone or other audioinput device(s) are not muted or disabled so that the pilot is capableof communicating on the channel now that it is likely to be relevantbased on the current operational context. In this regard, when thecurrent configuration associated with the recommended communicationschannel appears unlikely to support communications on the recommendedcommunications channel, the frequency change detection application 226may dynamically update the radio GUI display to include a graphicalindication of how the pilot should modify or otherwise adjust theconfiguration of the radio to better support communications on therecommended communications channel now that it is relevant to thecurrent ownship operational context.

FIGS. 5-7 depict exemplary radio GUI displays that may be presented on adisplay device 102, 212 in conjunction with the channel recommendationprocess 400 of FIG. 4. The radio GUI display 500 of FIG. 5 depicts ascenario where the recommended communications channel is not currentlytuned by any of the available communications radios supported by thecommunications system 206. Accordingly, in response to detecting thecurrent ownship operational context maps to one or more prior radiofrequency assignments given to other aircraft assigned the 127.85 MHzradio frequency channel, the frequency change detection application 226dynamically updates the radio GUI display 500 to include a graphicalindication 502 of the suggested 127.85 MHz radio frequency channel.Thus, if a pilot inadvertently enters the incorrect frequency (e.g.,127.87 MHz), either due to an erroneous entry or a miscommunication thatis not corrected by a controller based on the pilot's read back, thepilot may be notified based on the mismatch between the currentlyselected communications frequency and the previously assignedcommunications frequency mapped to the current ownship operationalcontext.

It should be noted that the channel recommendation process 400 may alsoprovide protection against scenarios where a controller inadvertentlyfails to provide a radio frequency assignment to the ownship aircraft ina timely manner upon the ownship aircraft reaching a particularoperational context where a radio frequency channel change should occur,or account for scenarios where the radio frequency channels currentlybeing utilized within the airspace deviate from those previouslyanticipated by a pilot (e.g., due to anomalies like radio distortion onground, frequency assignment changes, tower closures, and/or the likeinfluencing ATC operations for a given controlled area). For example, apilot may incorrectly assume or preemptively plan use of a particularradio frequency channel for a particular operational context based onprior experience, published procedure information, and/or the like andinadvertently fail to request or communicate with a controller about theappropriate communications channel to be utilized.

FIG. 6 depicts another exemplary radio GUI display 600 for a scenariowhere the recommended communications channel is currently tuned by thecommunications system 206 but is not currently active. Accordingly, inresponse to detecting that the recommended communications channel is notactive upon the ownship aircraft reaching the operational context wherethe frequency changeover is expected to occur based on the mapping toone or more prior radio frequency assignments, the frequency changedetection application 226 dynamically updates the radio GUI display 600to include a graphical indication 602 to activate the recommendedcommunications channel based on the current ownship operational context.In this regard, the channel recommendation process 400 providesprotection for scenarios where a pilot correctly hears, enters, and/orreads back an assigned frequency, and believes the aircraft is currentlycommunicating on the correct frequency when in fact the pilot hasunknowingly failed to activate or switch over the audio output devicesto that frequency.

FIG. 7 depicts another exemplary radio GUI display 700 for a scenariowhere the recommended communications channel is currently tuned andactive, but the current configuration of the communications system 206or other onboard audio elements may inhibit communications on therecommended communications channel. For example, in response todetecting that the volume associated with an audio output device 212 forthe active radio channel is muted or below a threshold, the frequencychange detection application 226 dynamically updates the radio GUIdisplay 700 to include a graphical indication 702 to check the volumebased on the current ownship operational context indicating the activerecommended communications channel is likely to be relevant. Thisprotects against scenarios where one or more preceding actions by apilot to adjust the audio output may result in the pilot subsequentlyoverlooking action required to restore communications capabilities. Forexample, a pilot using a headset may mute or turn down the cockpitloudspeaker volume, but then subsequently remove the headset withoutrealizing the current state of the cockpit loudspeaker. Thus, when theownship operational context indicates communications on the activechannel are increasingly likely to be relevant, the frequency changedetection application 226 verifies the configuration of the audio outputdevices and provides a notification to the pilot to check, verify, orotherwise adjust the audio output devices to ensure communicationscapabilities going forward. In a similar manner, the channelrecommendation process 400 may support notifying the pilot to unmute hisor her audio input device, or take other actions with respect to theconfiguration of the active radio to ensure communications capabilitiesgoing forward upon the active channel being relevant based upon theownship operational context.

To briefly summarize, the subject matter described herein monitorspilot-controller communications in real-time to establish associationsbetween radio frequency channel assignments and aircraft operationalcontexts and proactively suggest radio frequency channel changes whenthe ownship operational context corresponds or otherwise maps to anaircraft operational context associated with one or more prior radiofrequency channel assignments. In this regard, when the ownship aircraftexhibits an operational context indicative of a likely radio frequencychannel change based on prior radio frequency channel assignments, radiofrequency channel change may be proactively recommended in real-time,which, in some embodiments, may occur prior to the controller issuing aradio frequency channel assignment to the ownship aircraft or prior to apilot manually initiating a radio frequency channel change. Thus, thesubject matter described herein may alert a pilot to a radio frequencychannel change in a timely manner when a controller forgets or delaysissuance of a radio frequency channel assignment, or when interferenceor other problems prevent the ownship aircraft from receiving orperceiving a radio frequency channel assignment. Additionally, bydisplaying the recommended radio frequency prior to entry, thelikelihood of an erroneous entry or channel selection being made may bereduced, and/or such an error may be more readily identified by a pilotbased on the visual discrepancy between the recommended radio frequencyand the active radio frequency. In this regard, the subject matterdescribed herein accounts for potential loss of communication scenariosthat may go undetected by read back monitoring techniques. The real-timemapping of radio frequency channel assignments and aircraft operationalcontexts also accounts for situations where one or more radiofrequencies being utilized in the operating area deviate from predefinedprocedures, or when a listing of radio frequencies associated with thecurrent operating area is otherwise unavailable.

By concurrently background monitoring relevant frequencies (e.g., usingstandby channels, deactivated radios or tuners, software-defined radios,and/or the like) to the current operating area, a list or mapping ofcorrect radio frequencies used by other aircraft traffic with respect totheir respective operational contexts is created in real-time. In thisregard, speech-to-text or other speech recognition processes may beperformed to extract assigned radio frequency channels and operationalcontexts for the respective radio frequency assignments, which, in turnmay be paired with other operational data for the respective aircraftderived from broadcast data (e.g., ADS-B) or other sources. Theoperational context parameters associated with the various extractedradio frequency channels is then compared to the ownship operationalcontext in real-time to detect when a radio frequency change isanticipated to occur given the current ownship operational context, andin response, automatically recommend or suggest the extracted radiofrequency channel that is associated with the current ownshipoperational context based on the mapping of preceding radio frequencyassignments. Accordingly, the pilot may be proactively indicated of aprobable radio frequency channel change along with the suggesteddestination radio frequency channel for tuning or selection. A pilot mayalso be notified in the event of an erroneous input or selection of theradio frequency channel after a correct read back of the radio frequencychannel assignment.

It should be noted that while the subject matter may be described hereinprimarily in the context of implementation onboard an aircraft torecommend communications channel changes with respect to an ownshipaircraft, in alternative embodiments, the subject matter may beimplemented in an equivalent manner at an air traffic control locationor other computing device or system that is not onboard the aircraft.For example, the channel recommendation process 400 may modify ADS-B orother broadcast data for aircraft within a controlled airspace toproactively identify when the operational context of a particularaircraft indicates a likely radio frequency assignment based on priorradio frequency assignments and automatically provide an indication toan air traffic controller of the recommended radio frequency assignmentfor that particular aircraft based on the prior radio frequencyassignments. The air traffic controller may utilize the aircraftidentifier and recommended radio frequency provided by the channelrecommendation process 400 to issue the radio frequency assignment in atimely manner when contextually relevant to the aircraft receiving theassignment. In this regard, the subject matter described herein may beemployed to protect against potential inadvertent failure or delay by anair traffic controller issuing a radio frequency assignment.

For the sake of brevity, conventional techniques related to air trafficcontrol, aviation communications, aviation terminology, flightmanagement, route planning and/or navigation, aircraft procedures,aircraft controls, and other functional aspects of the systems (and theindividual operating components of the systems) may not be described indetail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown in the variousfigures contained herein are intended to represent exemplary functionalrelationships and/or physical couplings between the various elements. Itshould be noted that many alternative or additional functionalrelationships or physical connections may be present in an embodiment ofthe subject matter.

The subject matter may be described herein in terms of functional and/orlogical block components, and with reference to symbolic representationsof operations, processing tasks, and functions that may be performed byvarious computing components or devices. It should be appreciated thatthe various block components shown in the figures may be realized by anynumber of hardware components configured to perform the specifiedfunctions. For example, an embodiment of a system or a component mayemploy various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,digital signal processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, orthe like, which may carry out a variety of functions under the controlof one or more microprocessors or other control devices. Furthermore,embodiments of the subject matter described herein can be stored on,encoded on, or otherwise embodied by any suitable non-transitorycomputer-readable medium as computer-executable instructions or datastored thereon that, when executed (e.g., by a processing system),facilitate the processes described above.

The foregoing description refers to elements or nodes or features being“coupled” together. As used herein, unless expressly stated otherwise,“coupled” means that one element/node/feature is directly or indirectlyjoined to (or directly or indirectly communicates with) anotherelement/node/feature, and not necessarily mechanically. Thus, althoughthe drawings may depict one exemplary arrangement of elements,additional intervening elements, devices, features, or components may bepresent in an embodiment of the depicted subject matter. In addition,certain terminology may also be used in the following description forthe purpose of reference only, and thus are not intended to be limiting.For example, terms such as “first,” “second,” and other such numericalterms may be utilized to refer to or distinguish between differentelements or structures without implying a sequence or order unlessindicated by the context.

While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in theforegoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vastnumber of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that theexemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and arenot intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of thesubject matter in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed descriptionwill provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map forimplementing an exemplary embodiment of the subject matter. It should beunderstood that various changes may be made in the function andarrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment withoutdeparting from the scope of the subject matter as set forth in theappended claims. Accordingly, details of the exemplary embodiments orother limitations described above should not be read into the claimsabsent a clear intention to the contrary.

1. A method of monitoring an aircraft, the method comprising: monitoringa plurality of communications channels for a plurality of clearancecommunications using a communications system onboard the aircraft;maintaining, in a data storage element onboard the aircraft,associations between respective communications channels and respectiveoperational contexts of a plurality of different operational contextsbased on the plurality of clearance communications; and in response todetecting a change in an operational context of the aircraft, providingindication of a recommended communications channel based on anassociation between the recommended communications channel and one ofthe plurality of different operational contexts corresponding to acurrent operational context of the aircraft.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein monitoring the plurality of communications channels comprisesconcurrently monitoring an active communications channel and one or moreadditional communications channels in the background.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising: obtaining a listing of communicationschannels associated with an operating area encompassing a geographiclocation of the aircraft; and identifying the one or more additionalcommunications channels by excluding one or more communications channelsfrom the listing based at least on the operational context.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, wherein concurrently monitoring the activecommunications channel and one or more additional communicationschannels comprises monitoring the one or more additional communicationschannels using a software defined radio onboard the aircraft.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising for each respective clearancecommunication of the plurality of clearance communications, extractingan operational context parameter and a radio frequency from therespective clearance communication, wherein maintaining the associationscomprises, for each respective clearance communication of the pluralityof clearance communications, maintaining an association between theoperational context parameter extracted from the respective clearancecommunication and the radio frequency extracted from the respectiveclearance communication.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein: theoperational context parameter comprises a flight phase associated withthe first clearance communication; and providing indication of therecommended communications channel comprises automatically providingindication of the radio frequency extracted from the first clearancecommunication when a current flight phase of the aircraft corresponds tothe flight phase associated with the first clearance communication. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising: for each respective clearancecommunication of the plurality of clearance communications: extractingan intended recipient aircraft identifier and a radio frequency from therespective clearance communication; and obtaining a contemporaneousgeographic location associated with an intended recipient aircraft usingthe intended recipient aircraft identifier, wherein maintaining theassociations comprises, for each respective clearance communication ofthe plurality of clearance communications, maintaining an associationbetween the contemporaneous geographic location and the radio frequencyextracted from the respective clearance communication.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein: providing indication of the recommended communicationschannel comprises automatically providing indication of the radiofrequency extracted from a first clearance communication of theplurality of clearance communications when a current geographic locationof the aircraft corresponds to the contemporaneous geographic locationassociated with the intended recipient aircraft for the first clearancecommunication.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein: detecting the changecomprises detecting a change to a flight phase of the aircraft; andproviding the indication comprises: identifying a communications channelassociated with a current flight phase of the aircraft based on anassociation between the communications channel and the current flightphase in the data storage element; and automatically providingindication of the communications channel on a display device onboard theaircraft.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein: providing the indicationcomprises automatically providing indication of a first communicationschannel of the plurality of communications channels on a display deviceonboard the aircraft when a current geographic location of the aircraftcorresponds to a geographic location associated with the firstcommunications channel.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein providingindication of the recommended communications channel comprisesproactively recommending one of the plurality of communications channelsin real-time when the current operational context of the aircraftcorresponds to a respective operational context of the plurality ofdifferent operational contexts associated with the one of the pluralityof communications channels.
 12. A method comprising: concurrentlymonitoring a plurality of communications channels for a plurality ofcommunications channel assignment communications using a communicationssystem onboard a vehicle; for each respective communications channelassignment communication of the plurality of communications channelassignment communications: extracting an assigned communications channelfrom the respective communications channel assignment communication;obtaining a contemporaneous operational context associated with anintended recipient of the respective communications channel assignmentcommunication; and maintaining, in a data storage element onboard thevehicle, an association between the assigned communications channel andthe contemporaneous operational context; monitoring a currentoperational context of the vehicle using one or more onboard systems;and in response to detecting the current operational context correspondsto the respective contemporaneous operational context for a respectivecommunications channel assignment communication of the plurality ofcommunications channel assignment communications, automaticallyrecommending, via an output device onboard the vehicle, the assignedcommunications channel extracted from the respective communicationschannel assignment communication and associated with the respectivecontemporaneous operational context.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein: the vehicle comprises an aircraft; obtaining thecontemporaneous operational context associated with the intendedrecipient of the respective communications channel assignmentcommunication comprises extracting a flight phase from the respectivecommunications channel assignment communication; and automaticallyrecommending the assigned communications channel comprises automaticallyrecommending the assigned communications channel when a current flightphase of the aircraft corresponds to the extracted flight phase for therespective communications channel assignment.
 14. The method of claim12, wherein: the vehicle comprises an aircraft; obtaining thecontemporaneous operational context associated with the intendedrecipient of the respective communications channel assignmentcommunication comprises obtaining broadcast location data associatedwith the intended recipient of the respective communications channelassignment communication; and automatically recommending the assignedcommunications channel comprises automatically recommending the assignedcommunications channel when a current geographic location of theaircraft corresponds to the broadcast location data for the intendedrecipient of the respective communications channel assignment.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein obtaining the broadcast location datacomprises obtaining automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B)data for an intended recipient aircraft contemporaneous to therespective communications channel assignment.
 16. An aircraft systemcomprising: a communications system onboard an aircraft to obtain aplurality of channel assignment communications for a plurality ofdifferent aircraft; a data storage element maintaining associationsbetween a respective assigned communications channel and a respectiveaircraft operational context for each of the plurality of channelassignment communications; a monitoring system onboard the aircraft toprovide output indicative of a current operational context of theaircraft an output interface onboard the aircraft; and a processingsystem coupled to the data storage element, the monitoring system, andthe output interface to monitor the plurality of channel assignmentcommunications, create the associations in the data storage element, andautomatically provide indication of a first assigned communicationschannel as a recommended communications channel when the currentoperational context corresponds to the respective aircraft operationalcontext associated with the first assigned communications channel. 17.The aircraft system of claim 16, wherein the processing system isconfigured to extract the respective assigned communications channelfrom each of the plurality of channel assignment communications.
 18. Theaircraft system of claim 16, wherein the processing system is configuredto extract the respective aircraft operational context from each of theplurality of channel assignment communications.
 19. The aircraft systemof claim 18, wherein the processing system automatically provideindication of the first assigned communications channel as therecommended communications channel when a current flight phasecorresponds to a flight phase extracted from a respective channelassignment communication including the first assigned communicationschannel.
 20. The aircraft system of claim 16, further comprising atraffic monitoring system onboard the aircraft to obtain broadcastlocation data for each of the plurality of different aircraft, whereinthe processing system is coupled to the traffic monitoring system to:create the associations between the respective assigned communicationschannel and contemporaneous broadcast location data for a respectiveintended recipient aircraft for each of the plurality of channelassignment communications; and automatically provide indication of thefirst assigned communications channel as the recommended communicationschannel when a current geographic location of the aircraft correspondsto the contemporaneous broadcast location data for the respectiveintended recipient aircraft of a respective channel assignmentcommunication including the first assigned communications channel.